Paving the way for employment? The impact of the Luxembourg Process on German labour market policies

Abstract:

The article analyses the impact of the European Employment Strategy on German policies. The Luxembourg Process contains concrete, quantitative objectives as well as relatively heterogeneous proposals that allow rather antithetical national policies. Nevertheless, it marks a specific European path, emphasising state-led activation strategies. Applying clear and verifiable criteria, we analyse the impact of the guidelines, the quantified objectives and the recommendations on German employment policies and find that they selectively influenced German policies, normally catalysing existing policies ('intensifier effects'), but sometimes also inducing a policy change ('steering effects'). The impact varies depending on the concreteness of the guidelines and the party composition of the government.